Saturday May 7, 2011

The Music of Journey: Orchestra London's Red Hot Weekends, May 2011

by Brian Hay

Michael Shotton had one of the toughest jobs in the business this time around. He had to be the opening act that warmed the crowd up for the one that everybody may walk away talking about. That's not an easy thing to do and it's even harder to do really, really well. After seeing last night's show I doubt there's anyone better to do that than Mike Shotton. He has a range that can blow the roof off and there's nobody who works harder to engage both the audience and the performers around him. He's out on the edge of the stage. He goes right into the audience. He clowns around with the other performers — it was hilarious watching him grab Dave Dunlop and start dancing. And he knows his stuff. He followed the charts that Peter Brennan set up impeccably but never used them. He delivered fabulous versions of 'One Vision' and 'A Kind of Magic'. His renditions of 'Is This Love', 'Life in the Fast Lane' and Detroit Rock City' were excellent. He blew the doors off of 'Shout It Out Loud'. He was brilliant on the covers of 'All Of My Love', 'Black Dog' and 'Kashmir'. And when he was done he had the place warmed up with the doors open for a new man to feel welcome. That's a hell of a job to do and a fabulous example of teamwork at its best. Mike's a credit to music and what it should be about.

The first thing that has to be said about Ted Fiorino is that he can't end up back on a London stage soon enough. This man has a set of pipes and he knows how to use them. He opens himself up to his audience and invites everyone aboard for the ride. After opening those doors he uses his powers of persuasion (usually some magnificent singing mixed with all round congeniality) to make the invitation progressively more attractive and continues pulling them in. Once most of the party's in place he takes everyone in hand and becomes the consummate host. And does he ever give the guests their money's worth.

His opening number, 'Wheel in the Sky', made it obvious he was a force to be reckoned with. 'Anyway You Want It' and 'Lights', yielded more surprises as to the scope of his range — he had everybody wondering if it had any limitations. The first of the ballads (which in hard rock lingo means flash floods that don't quite burst the dam), 'Separate Ways', revealed an emotional well within his singing that bonded him to the crowd for the rest of the show. This man is more than just an excellent singer. He loves what he's doing and carries it to the people he sings to. He did stirring renditions of 'Send Her My Love' and 'Who's Cryin' Now' before flooring the audience with a stunning performance of 'Open Arms'. He opened a lot of tear ducts with that one. (The lady seated beside me literally leaned over and said she wanted to cry). He wrapped things up with 'Don't Stop Believing', followed it with an encore and left the audience with the feeling they'd found someone new and wonderful.

So much of the credit for how well all this works goes to Peter Brennan. The arrangements which are done by him and Jeff Christmas invent ways for orchestra and rock ensembles to work together. The string arrangements that were in place for Led Zeppelin's 'Kashmir' captured the dissonances within the song brilliantly. There were some fabulous string arrangements at the core of their rendition of 'All of My Love' as well. For the 'Journey' material the orchestral tapestry was woven intricately into the guitar solos. The musicians had to be on top of their game to be on top of their cues. Under the baton of Jeff Christmas they were orchestra was always right where they had to be and they sounded as if they were. He came up with a violin solo to compliment the guitar bit in 'Shout It Out Loud' (I believe — titles aren't always easy to keep track of). Joe Lanza stood up for that one, plugged his violin in and revealed the rocker within his classical heart. Who knew? But these surprises are part of the fun.

Another facet is how well the Jeans 'n Classics ensembles are balanced for the material they play. In this case they used a a pair of singers with muscular voices suited to hard rock material. The backing singers that complimented them, Katalin Kiss and Andrea Koziol, both had strong voices with the sharp edge needed to give the material that extra bite it requires. As is the norm for Jeans 'n Classics both are highly disciplined, easily able to follow charts and more than capable of running with a thread when need be.

The material covered this time came from bands that were basically three or four piece units. That demands a strong bass line and a powerful rhythm section. Mitch Tyler and drummer Paul DeLong had no problems supplying the thundering bass lines needed by small bands. Keyboardist Duncan Grant fit with both his ensemble and the orchestra so neatly they often seemed to be one entity. And guitarist Dave Dunlop had a field day. He had more than enough to do all night but, in the second half, he soared. Peter gave him the type of fills anyone who ever experienced arena rock grew to know and love and he brought back all the glory of those days.

What a night!. Thank you Orchestra London and thank you Jeans 'n Classics.

This show took place at Centennial Hall in London Ontario on Friday May 7, 2011 and will be repeated on Saturday May 8, 2011 at the same venue. This piece was written to give an impression as to what it was like to be there.

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